


i wish you only happiness, to reach to the stars above.

by milohtic



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: "let hop achieve his goal!" but at what cost?, F/M, Fluff and Angst, but theyre pretty minor characters overall, gloria is not specificly mentioned, its more like a hop/reader, mentions of leon and sonia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:41:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21829912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milohtic/pseuds/milohtic
Summary: at some point did you cave into his pleads, the light in his eyes returning as you reluctantly agreed to pick a pokemon. as you tenderly cradled grookey in your arms, you swore to yourself to never rid hop of his dreams; to only be the side character in his protagonistic lead; to support and to be there for him.why was it then, when he picked sobble, did you realize that you broke the very foundation on which your promise laid?
Relationships: Hop/Yuuri | Gloria
Comments: 9
Kudos: 147





	1. because my friend had a dream.

the corners of your mouth twitch into a frown. there's a feeling of impending doom looming over you, as if to warn you that the consequences of your action are more grave than you'd expect. it's a horrible feeling to be thrusted upon so late on your journey, but you feel like everything up to this point in time seems worthless in bold comparison; obscure: hardly worth mentioning or thinking about. you chew on the inside of your cheek in deep ponder.

a familiar voice calls out to you. you blink, snapped out of the depths of your mind, and once more aware of your surroundings. "lost in thought again?" your eyes divert to golden ones, gleaming excitedly in sharp contrast to your dull, worried gaze.

it's hop, your friend-rival. his face is practically beaming; optimistic and sharp as usual. your frown curls up into a polite smile, to reassure him. you begin to part your lips to offer an apology, but pause, shaking your head instead. there's no use in telling him, especially when he's in such an elevated mood. you wouldn't want to wipe such fragile smile off his features.

"c'mon mate, let's sign up!" he gingerly takes your hand into his, grinning in a rather childish manner. you can't help but grin too; its wholly infectious.

yes, that's right, you remind yourself quite bitterly. you're here, at rose stadium, signing up for the champion's cup. any sane and overly zealous would be pumped for a chance to prove themselves worthy of taking leon's title. you, however, consider it to be your achilles' heel.

by his side, you tentatively watch hop sign up. as he hands back his forum, you notice how his handwriting is more or less illegible; scribbled on rather shakily and full of energy. it speaks volumes to how enthusiastic he is about the match, about battling, about _everything,_ yet it makes your stomach curl inside out from sheer nervousness.

"done! you should sign up now," he suggests (rather, he _commands_ ), handing you the form. "i'll meet you at the hotel lobby when your done, 'kay? don't keep me waiting long! tomorrow's the big day, for both of us!" hop pats your shoulder, grinning, before departing from the stadium. your death grip on the paper tightens, the worry present in your eyes returning from their slumber. "c… could i have a pen, please?" you ask timidly before receiving one.

you find a quiet corner to sit and fill in the application. your hand trembles, making your usually neat handwriting rather sloppy. you manage to fill out the forum, except for one part.

_what was the reason/where the reasons you participated in the gym challenge?_

it's a trivial question, really; one that's there just for funsies. _i wanted to become strong!_ was the generic go-to answer. _to become champion!_ was another. knowing hop, he probably put _to beat my undefeatable brother and become champion!_. but you?

the gears shift in your mind, resurfacing memories.

* * *

_"i wanna be just like lee!" hop cried excitedly, dancing around his room, a charmander plushie in hand. "i wanna be champion!"_

_"wouldn't that be hard?" you question, clear doubt in your soft voice. "like, he's so far away from home, and you never get to see him as often as you'd like…"_

_"nonsense! when i'm champion, i'd make it to where i'd visit mum and lee_ every _week, to no fail! people would just_ have _to listen to me at my every request 'cause im hop, the new undefeated champion of galar!" he bounces around, charizard posing rather dramatically on his bed before plopping down with a loud 'omfp' next to your body. you give a quick, reassuring smile as he nestles into the sheets, sighing contently._

_you wish you had an ounce of hop's positivity. maybe then, you'd understand his dream._

* * *

_"go ahead, pick your pokemon!"_

_you blink at your friend's brother- what was his name? lee? leon?- rather dumbfoundedly. he gives you a reassuring smile, motioning to the three pokemon in front of you. "no, no, you don't get it," you specify, "i don't want a pokemon."_

_"huh?" hop cries, pouting. "that's not what you told me! that's not what you promised me!"_

i never promised nor told you anything! _you resort silently, clenching your jaw. leon rests his hand on his brother's shoulder, looking back at you. "well, perhaps she just needs to take her time choosing. after all, it is a very hard decision."_

what part of 'i don't want a pokemon' did you not understand?! _you cry inwardly, biting your tongue._

_you didn't want a pokemon. you didn't need a pokemon! you were happy right here in postwick, watching flocks of wooloo and the occasional butterfly float by. you were satisfied being simple, being down-to-earth. being a trainer wasn't meant for you and your lifestyle, you swore to yourself._

_it's not like you_ lacked _the skill to be a trainer; in fact, it was quite the opposite. rather, it was more that you would get in the way of hop's dream of becoming champion, and with how much he reiterated his wishes throughout the years, you simply didn't want to stand in the way of him any longer._

_but hop's golden eyes begged you to join._ it wouldn't be the same without you, _they hinted._ i would be so lonely without you by my side...

_at some point did you cave into his pleads, the light in his eyes returning as you reluctantly agreed to pick a pokemon. as you tenderly cradled grookey in your arms, you swore to yourself to never rid hop of his dreams; to only be the side character in his protagonistic lead; to support and to be there for him._

_why was it then, when he picked sobble, did you realize that you broke the very foundation on which your promise laid?_

* * *

you stare blankly at the question, pricks of tears threatening to spill out uninvited. wiping away the tears on your sleeve, you jot down the only answer you could rationalize before handing it back to the front desk, briskly leaving afterwards.

_because my friend had a dream._


	2. in my tears, you are here.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> decided to split this chapter in two. a third part will come out shortly. yes, More Angst. how fun!

you arrive at the hotel in mere minutes. hop is in the lobby, waiting for you.

"you're here!" he cheers, rushing over to hug you. "i can't believe it! tomorrow… tomorrow!" he clasps your hands with his. his hands radiate a soft warmth in comparison to your chilled ones, sending goosebumps along your skin. "tomorrow we show the world what we're really made of!" again, he grins that infectious smile, and you can't help but smile back, too.

hand in hand, you enter into and ride the elevator. on the way up, hop mentions something about _leon_ and _dinner time_ and _going to walk around wyndon tonight,_ but all you can focus on is the queasy gut feeling and pang of regret building up inside of you. hop seems to notice and softly smiles.

"nervous for tomorrow?" he asks. "i am, too."

_yes, but for an entirely different reason._ you nod. "y-yeah… there's gonna be a lot of people there t-too…"

he squeezes your hand. "don't worry about the people, or the lights, or the noise; worry about the battle in front of you, 'kay? you'll be fine, i promise!"

you swallow, sighing softly. "a-alright hop."

the elevator stops and pings on the floor you both are staying at. stepping out, you note how the ambiance is relatively quiet, except for the low music echoing through the hall, and how the windows provide a beautiful view of evening wyndon, the lowering sun bleeding out a rich hue of saturated orange. reluctantly, hop releases your hand from his. "i'll meet you near the elevators in a couple of hours, 'kay?" he affirms in a hushed whisper. "that way, we both can get settled and then go out with leon to eat."

"w-we're going out with leon to eat?" you say, incredulously.

"were you not paying attention to me?!"

* * *

you felt rather nervous sitting at a table with leon, in a rather fancy dining room in one of galar's most popular hotels. you suddenly felt very aware of how important the champion's cup was going to be; and how small and tiny you and hop were in comparison to leon's towering presence. the dining patrons close enough glued their sharp gazes on the champion's figure, and you swore if leon had not been accustomed to it, he would've melted right then and there. you chewed the inside of your lip nervously, a horrible habit you had alongside chewing the insides of your lip and nauseating waves of nervousness. hop sat right next to you, and like always, squeezed your hand in reassurance. he did that a lot these days.

the three of you (mostly hop and leon, you simply replied when a comment or question was directed towards you) for the remainder of the dinner talked about the champion's cup and new events that popped up on their way to wyndon. the nervousness and queasiness you felt when riding up the elevator surged back in full force, and you felt the need to suddenly get out of here. _quickly._

hop noticed your increasingly fidgety state, and quickly excused the two of you from the dinner. hand in hand, you let him weave through the crowds of people cultivating (since leon was there), finally reaching the hotel doors. the blast of chilly wydonian air shivered you awake, and you realized that hop had lead you far away from the hotel, and to a more secluded place in the city.

he gently sits you down on a bench adjacent to the river running through the city. he knows the sound of the water will soothe you. gingerly, he places a hand on your cheek. you don't dare to move. you don't dare to breathe.

hop's gilded eyes sparkle with worry, and you almost feel like apologizing for literally _anything_ that comes to mind. instead, the two of you sit in silence, the water trickling and breeze blowing giving a calm and relaxing ambience. you want to talk. he hushes you.

after a few minutes, hop removes his hand from your cheek. you whine softly at the removal of heat. he chuckles.

"are you better now?" he quietly asks. you nod, slipping your hand into his. "y-yeah… i think."

"you've been really distracted lately," he comments, "like, i know you're usually distracted, but it's been _way_ more noticeable than before." your cheeks burn in sheer embarrassment. "what's up?"

what's up. what's up? the sky is up. the stars are up. hop's dreams are up. your nervousness is up. you blink. you don't really know how to answer. in fact, you can't really answer.

"is it because of me?"

you bite your cheek instinctively. "n-no…" you draw out. "n-not at all…"

hop shakes his head at your answer, somehow rather pitifully. "i really don't believe you this time. you're usually like this when it has something to do with me. i know you. you know me."

he's right. he's exactly right. you feel like crying now; you're so embarrassed you feel like running away. hop cradles your head in his hands, gently wiping away a stray tear with his thumb. slowly, he starts to spoon you.

"mate, i know you don't want me to ever stop being happy and chasing my goal, but you need to focus on yourself too, y'know. you're just as important as i am to you." you bitterly agree.

"when we both face each other in the semi-finals tomorrow," he murmurs into your hair, "you're going to give it your all against me. i don't want you holding back. i never want you to hold back. give me all you got, 'kay? make it a battle that shakes up the stadium- no, make it a battle that shakes up the entire world!" your giggle reverberates in his chest. he hugs you even closer to him. "it wouldn't be fair if you held back yourself for me. then, i wouldn't get a taste of your _true_ power, like i have in all of our other battles."

"besides," hop smiles with a hint of sadness, "i wouldn't mind losing to you just one more time."

your heart jumps to your throat. unsurprisingly, you start crying again. hop responds by cradling you even more, and your crying turns into ugly sobbing. you want the best for him, and only him. who cares about what _you_ want? hop deserved it ten million times more than you do, even if that means somehow forfeiting the match to make it go in _his_ favor. this was his journey. this was his _life._ hop was not hop until he finally achieved his childhood dream.

but hop wasn't hop without you. without you, he wouldn't ever gone on his journey. without you, hop might as well have never had that dream to begin with. he acted this way _because_ of you. he held your hand because of you. laughed because you laughed, too. confronted your fears because he cared about you. smiled for you because he wanted to see that shy smile transform into a gratifying, bright grin. wanted you to travel with him because he, deep within, wanted to experience the world with you.

"hop," you weakly cry, "please don't go."

he smiled. "i'm not going anywhere."


	3. all heroes begin anew.

your whole body shakes in anticipation. your palms, uncomfortably shoved in your jacket's pockets, sweat. you no longer feel the uneasiness of before; rather, a new sense of acceptance washes over your weary soul, as if arceus breathed an entirely new life into you. today is the champion's cup, a beloved final for each and every trainer's gym challenge. here, participants battle in the preliminary rounds, against their rivals; then again in the semifinals, against the gym leaders they fought tooth and nail to end up here; and finally against leon, the undefeated champion of galar, in all his sheer guts and glory.

this year's preliminaries were short, as there were only two trainers who ended up finishing their gym challenge. you immediately recognize them as hop and marnie, and the two of them fight viciously with every ounce of power they possessed. marnie even pulled out her triumph card, gigantimax grimsnarl, which was a hefty surprise for both you and hop. hop dynamaxes his snorlax, and wins by sheer force of luck, error, and trial.

he moves on to the semi-finals. your heart palpitates as he goes up against nessa, the gym you had the hardest time against. nessa manages to clean the floor almost undefeated, but a tactical revive of his rillaboom swipes victory right under her nose.

bea is up next. with his corviknight, he wipes through her entire team before they can do serious damage. coviknight remains unscathed; tired, but successful. you murmur in thought as bea and hop exit the stadium. seeing her team made you wish you requested her instead; allister raised hell upon your team a good two times before you managed to nab a decisive victory with your centiskorch.

raihan was up last. his shit-eating smirk made you frown, but you had to give credit where credit was due: he was crazy strong, and if it wasn't for your own corviknight surviving the raging sandstorm he put up, you would've lost against him more times than you'd like to admit. of course, raihan puts up an impressive fight against hop; the two dynamaxing their final pokemon as the stadium goes increasingly wild. hop, again, manages to win by a sliver of health, and you're so proud you shed a few tears.

the finals were coming; leon was waiting. there was no doubt going to be an epic showdown of the century; everyone was waiting in held breath for brother versus brother, champion versus trainer. family versus family

the tv paned towards hop, determined, but with a rather cold edge that you picked up. "challenger hop," quizzed a reporter next to him, "do you have any last words to say before you battle our champion?"

his golden, honey-coated eyes gaze directly into the camera, faltering for a moment before blinking. "i had a dream," hop declared, "and that dream stands right in front of me, beckoning me; taunting me as we speak."

"but,"

you brace yourself.

"i wouldn't have achieved my dream without my partner. my friend. the one who encouraged me to train harder. the one who encouraged me to reach for the stars. while she isn't with us right now, i know that she is watching me, observing me, cheering me on silently. and that," he breathes in before flashing a confident grin, "is what just keeps me goin'!"

you lean forward on the edge of your seat. so close! so close! he's almost there; you can practically taste it on the tip of your tongue!

you here a name call out to you. you rip your eyes off the tv in the direction of the voice. its sonia. her bright light blue eyes smile at you warmly as she approaches. "watching the champion's cup, huh?" she comments as she leans onto the couch. you nod quickly, shifting your gaze towards the tv once more to see the match starting. you grin wildly, and sonia does too. former trainers watching their former rivals duke it out with their pokemon on screen. it's like you and sonia were meant to come together and share this very moment. you wouldn't have it any other way.

deep down, you knew you were a hypocrite. you promised hop to be there for him, but you were in fact doing the opposite; so far away, too. perhaps you thought it was childish to give up at your peak, to seclude yourself away until your presence becomes a merely foggy memory to those who somehow still remember you. but unlike sonia, who wanted to become champion equally as badly as leon when she was participating, you simply were content staying on the sidelines.

withdrawing from the cup the day it started filled you with regret, but it ebbed away quickly into only a prickly feeling that you felt every once in a while. you still felt hop's burning disbelievement as you announced your decision, and sorrowfully replayed his pleas in your mind. you then felt, suddenly, the urge to fly back to wyndon, run into rose stadium, and hug him like there was no tomorrow on the battlefield, whispering and crying that you were here, and that you were back, and you weren't going _anywhere_ at _all_.

but you accepted your fate. you accepted hop's dream and turned them concrete. there was absolutely no going back now. no matter how much you would regret your decision; no matter how much it seemed unfair to hop for you to leave. you would not falter. you would stand your ground.

leon's mighty gigantamax charizard fell to a super effective max geyser in one fell swoop. the stadium cheered hop's name, rumbling violently as if shaken by a powerful earthquake. sonia smiled sadly, and you understood. ten years of her battling, her passion, her triumphs; leon's triumphs: gone. in a single day. to his brother, nonetheless.

"c'mon," sonia urged after the rather anticlimactic finish, "let's go and fill out that pokedex in the wild area. didn't you say you where seventy-five percent done with it?"

if you stayed a little longer, you might've caught hop crying bittersweetly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im thinking about making a sequel to this. somewhere along the lines of leon and sonia's relationship, but with you and hop. what do yall think?


End file.
